Hospital patient care generates considerable quantities of infectious medical waste in primary and acute care facilities. Such facilities obviously have a need to provide various garments and other textile products for use by physicians and attending professionals as well as for bedding, draperies, towels and similar items.
At one time, virtually all garments and other textiles used in the medical environment were reusable. Reusable textiles were primarily woven fabrics from yarns and the yarns were primarily composed of cotton and other natural fibers. However, approximately four decades ago, synthetics began to be employed which included polymers such as nylon and polyester fibers. These yarns were primarily spun from staple fibers and very little texturized synthetic filaments were in use.
Beginning approximately thirty years ago, disposable garments, covers, linens and drapes were introduced t the medical venue. These disposables offered many cost and time-saving features. For example, hospitals were able to reduce or entirely eliminate their laundry facilities and the hospital had, for the first time, garments that exhibited significant barrier protection.
One of the principal reasons why medical facilities were turning to disposables was that reusables suffer from one principal physical disability, namely, that they cannot readily provide liquid barrier properties, especially after the initial two or three laundry cycles. This is particularly troublesome in light of the fact that reusables are expected to perform for at least eighteen laundry cycles.
Modern day disposables are generally non-wovens which are carded stock chemically bonded into fabrics. These carded webs are treated with adhesives or bonding agents and then calendared to form "paper-light" materials. Carded webs have been somewhat replaced by thermobond materials which have a softer "hand" but which suffer from cross-directional strengths.
The most technologically advanced disposables are produced from air-entangled and hydroentangled fibers which produce excellent fabrics. Principal among these is the Sontera.TM. hydroentangled fabric offered by DuPont. Non-wovens are principally composed of polypropylene fibers, with the notable exception being Sontera.TM., which is a polyester staple with cellulose wood pulp. These hydroentangled webs display the most textile-like "hand" as well as a high degree of dimensional strength. As such, Sontera.TM. and like fabrics have been accepted for present day state-of-the-art medical gowns and drapes.
There is now a trend throughout the health care industry of converting back from disposable items to reusable, cleanable ones. Originally, the trend was to employ disposables wherever possible to promote antiseptic techniques in patient care to decrease the potential for cross-infections between patients, staff and the general public. The recent federal and state government regulations such as the Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 and the OSHA Medical Facility rules have resulted in a substantial increase in medical waste that must be classified as "infectious."
When a patient is admitted to a hospital, the patient produces approximately 55 pounds of medical waste per day. Approximately 20% of this waste is infectious. The current stated objective of the American Hospital Association and the Centers for Disease Control is to treat medical waste as soon as it is generated. Both organizations recognize that medical waste is primarily an occupational hazard for health care workers and not an environmental safety problem. The best way to deal with infectious medical waste is to disinfect it at the point of generation and dispose of the treated medical waste with minimum handling and storage on premises.
The need for an effective way to dispose of medical waste has been highlighted by the amendment made by to 29 C.F.R. .sctn.1910.1030 which provides for the federal regulation under the Occupational Safety And Health Act, 29 U.S.C. 655, 657 to control bloodborne pathogens. Specifically, the Act calls for the establishment of an exposure control plan, the containment of specimens of blood or other potentially infectious materials and the general tightening of precautionary measures to minimize the spread of disease. A safe and effective way to dispose of hospital waste in the form of soiled garments and apparel would greatly facilitate compliance with the above-referenced Act.
As a result, consumption of medical disposable woven or non-woven products has been growing at a rate of approximately 10% a year. In 1988, sales totaled approximately 1.155 Billion Dollars. It is projected that by 1992, sales of medical disposable non-Woven products will reach 1.54 Billion Dollars. Disposable medical fabrics are generally currently composed of thermoplastic fibers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyesters, polyamides and acrylics. These fabrics can also include mixtures of thermoset fibers such as polyamides, polyarimids and cellulosics. They are typically 10-100 g/yd.sup.2 in weight and can be woven, knitted or otherwise formed by methods well known to those in the textile arts while the non-wovens can be thermobonded, hydroentangled, wet laid or needle punched again by methods which are well known in the textile arts.
Although there is clearly a benefit in the use of disposables in the medical arts by avoiding the necessity for human contact with medical waste in the cleaning of comparable reusables, non-biodegradable disposables are posing a problem which is only now being recognized. Landfill sites are becoming increasingly burdened with disposables which do not biodegrade for hundreds of years, if ever. As landfill sites become fully exploited, new sites must be found which are rightfully opposed by residents located proximate to proposed site locations. In addition, incineration fails to be a viable alternative. Waste disposal incinerators are woefully inadequate. In fact, it is estimated that up to 25% of all incinerators currently in use will be forced to close over the next ten years.
As noted previously, disposables are now increasing in disfavor because of the acute disposal problem they create. Reusable garments generally range in weights from 30 to 300 g/yd.sup.2, and most often they are in the 50 to 100 g/yd.sup.2 range. The synthetic non-woven structures are, in non-garment environments, as low as 15 g/yd.sup.2 but most often for garments, the weight ranges from 35 to 50 g/yd.sup.2 with 100 g/yd.sup.2 fabrics being utilized for heavy duty coveralls and lab coats.
Recognizing this acute disposal problem, applicant's parent application, namely U.S. application Ser. No. 881,685 filed on May 12, 1992 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,387) teaches the fabrication of garments, linens, drapes, towels and other useful articles from thermoplastic polymer fabric of polyvinyl alcohol fiber which is water soluble only in temperatures above 37.degree. C., the human body temperature, and insoluble at temperatures below 37.degree. C. It was contemplated that disposal of such products in a hot water bath such as a washing machine at or near the boiling point of water dedicated solely to solubilizing garments, linens, drapes, towels and other useful articles would also be an effective disinfecting media. As such, two objects were accomplished in practicing this invention, namely, that the polymer or sheets would be disinfected and would be solubilized for disposal through a municipal sewer system. Not only would this lessen the burden now being imposed upon current landfill sites, but liquid sewer disposal would prove a comparative low cost technique in ridding the user of such used garments.
It is an object of the present invention to provide useful articles which, as composites, display the beneficial attributes of both reusables and disposables. This and other objects would be more readily appreciated when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.